NYCC: Green Lantern -- Tomasi And Others Discuss Rise Of The Third Army

At New York Comic Con’s DC Comics: Green Lantern -- The Third Army Arrives panel, DC fans packed the room as moderator and DC Entertainment SVP Bob Wayne asked if there were any “Green Lantern” fans in the room and applauded when the room erupted in cheers.

He then introduced the panelists: editors Pat McCallum and Matt Idelson, writer Peter Tomasi and artist Aaron Kuder. Wayne threw up a promo image of the “Rise Of The Third Army” and Tomasi told the audience that, “You’ll see some pretty intense stuff happening in those books coming out...the rise is right now but it will turn into an all-out war with the Guardians being the bad guys,” Tomasi said.

The audience cheered again as Wayne asked them if they liked new Lantern Simon Baz, then threw up an image of Guy Gardner surrounded by police officers.

“A lot of bad, bad mojo happens to Guy in these next issues,” Tomasi said, adding that Baz would be looking for help from Guy on how to use his ring.

“It’s just two guys kicking some serious Third Army ass,” Tomasi added.

Speaking about the “Green Lantern Corps Annual,” Tomasi told the audience that there would be some “serious bloodletting” in the annual. The audience applauded as they moved onto “Green Lantern: New Guardians,” McCallum saying that “Kyle will not be the White Lantern by the time [the Third Army] shows up...I think Aaron[ Kuder’s] take on it is pretty cool.”

Kuder, the new artist for “New Guardians,” told the audience that he was both intimated and excited by working on the series. “I get to draw bizarre aliens and stretch those muscles a lot, it’s really fun,” Kuder said.

McCallum also said that the annual for that series would introduce the “worst Green Lantern of them all” before throwing it over to “Red Lanterns.”

“They’re the first ones hit by the Third Army...it’s going to split into three different story lines,” following Atrocitus, Bleez and Dex-Starr, McCallum said.

“Dex-Starr will go to Earth, on his own, to hunt down and murder the Midnighter...but will Red Lantern cat make it to Earth, or will he be distracted by a cosmic ball of yarn?” McCallum joked as the audience laughed.

The panelists then showed a cover of Atrocitus with an army of Manhunters, saying that there would be blood-magic fueled Manhunters going up against the Third Army, courtesy of Atrocitus, who will also be pursuing revenge against the Guardians.

Wayne opened the floor to audience questions, the first fan asking about the relaunch and incorporating the past of the Green Lanterns. “I didn’t look at all the stuff done with Guy, it seemed unruly...but in regards to the Third Army there’s littler kernels of the Guardians and their true purpose...but pretty much we started with a clean slate and built from the ground up,” Tomasi said.

The panelists then told the next fan they knew how the Third Army arc would end, the editors stating that they plan a year ahead for events like this.

The audience gasped and applauded as a fan suggested Dex-Starr fight Krypto and Wayne joked that Dex-Starr would fight Baz next. Another fan asked Tomasi about the “Green Lantern Corps” scene where they fought the Manhunters and specifically why there was some organic-looking robotics.

“It was all there,” Tomasi said, explaining that they mashed-up robots and organics while looking at the past of the successful, and failed, Manhunters.

A Simon Baz fan wanted to know Baz’s role in the event and if after Rise of the Third Army what plans were for Black Hand. “You just want to know everything, don’t you?” Wayne said as the audience laughed. Idelson then said they would eventually get back to Black Hand.

The next audience member wanted to know if “Third Army” would be a game-changer like “Sinestro Corps War.”

“A lot of things you’ll be shocked and surprised at,” McCallum said, the panelists likening it to sweeping all the color spectrum rings off the table.

The editors also stated that “Green Lantern: New Guardians” issue #15 will dive into Larfleeze’s history and family more, and he shares an important scene with the Star Sapphire.

Leading the audience in a round of applause for Bleez, the next fan to the microphone said that he felt the many Green Lantern events were confusing in the light of the DC Universe being five years old.

“You can’t get invested in some of the stuff...that stuff existed, you dug it, now let yourself be hit by the next wave of things coming your way,” McCallum said.

An audience member wanted to know if Mogo would eve return. “In #14 you actually will be pleasantly surprised,” Tomasi said.

The next fan asked if the Anti-Monitor would be reintroduced into the DC Universe. The editors said there was nothing planned in the immediate future, but there’s always the possibility.

An Army Veteran from the Gulf War asked if readers would see the return of Parallax or Ion anytime soon, to which the panelists said there were no plans.

Taking the last few questions a fan wanted to know when Batman would throw a Green Lantern ring back on and the panelists joked next month. A female pilot wanted to know if Hal’s non-Carol girlfriend, Jillian Pearlman, was erased from continuity, to which the panelists told her not everything was erased.

A “Red Lanterns” reader wanted to know if there would be a Sinestro/Arkillo confrontation. “I would love to draw that!” Kuder said and the panelists said there might be some things in the work in terms of a confrontation.

The audience applauded as a fan asked if readers would ever see a female human Green Lantern and a male Star Sapphire.

“Next month!” Wayne joked as the audience laughed, turning to the next question from another audience member who wanted to know if there would be a big semi-arc for John Stewart, like there was currently for Guy.

“It was pretty John-centric for at least three of fourth months,” Tomasi said about the character.

A young boy asked the panel what made them decide to create Simon Baz during “Rise Of The Third Army.”

“We wanted to shake it up...Baz is in a weird way, he could become your first Green Lantern and you don’t have to go through ten, thirty years of history,” Tomasi said, the editors adding that Baz also gave the audience fresh eyes on the Green Lantern Universe.

A father asked for his daughter if Jade and Obsidian would be coming back in the DCU. “Everything’s open for possibility in ‘Earth 2,’” McCallum said, adding, “Those are both names that have come up in conversations a couple of times.”

Wayne then brought the panel to a close, thanking the applauding audience for reading the Green Lantern books.